Wednesday, October 28, 2009

This is a write up of Gold de Royale, an Australian gold bullion and other precious metal dealer and explains who Gold de Royale are and what they deal in. It is well worth reading before you decide to buy any gold from Gold de Royale.

As always, we recommend one does one’s own due diligence before buying gold from any gold dealer.

Who are Gold de RoyaleGold De Royale is an Australian online bullion store selling exclusively Swiss gold, silver, palladium and platinum. They are based in Brisbane, QLD but orders can be placed online from anywhere in Australia. The website is goldderoyale.com.au and the Sales Manager is Mr. George Vo

The company, GOLD DE ROYALE PTY LTD, ABN: 80 134 939 272, has been around since November 2008. Their offices are open Monday to Friday 9am to 4pm with the online store open 24/7 of course. The address is Suite 103, 192 Ann St, Brisbane, QLD, 4000

As Gold de Royale is a fully online business, and for security reasons, they do not keep gold or other bullion on the premises. Instead there is a fully secure online ordering system and they have orders shipped as soon as they are receive.

Gold de Royale ProductsGold de Royale sell principally Swiss gold, silver, platinum and palladium bullion. They also occasionally have other gold and silver products, such as Canadian Maple Leaf coins for example. Here is a list of their standard products:

Gold de Royal Customer ServiceAnyone can buy gold or silver bullion from Gold de Royale. This includes companies, dealers, collectors, investment institutions, jewelers and of course individuals.

Purchases can be made via email or phone. Order may be placed online 24 hours a day seven days a week. The office is only open during business so any response by the office, if you want to talk to someone there, will need to be within 9am to 4 pm Monday to Friday Brisbane time.

Gold de Royale ship internationally as well as with all parts of Australia. Due to security issues not all countries are accepted for shipping however. Any bullion product shipped is fully insured against loss during the transit period. All shipments are through FedEx and a signature is required on delivery. No responsibility is taken if there is no signature by the purchaser. International Orders can be paid for by standard credit cards, PayPal and Bank Transfers. Arrangements for the purchase and payment of bullion internationally can be done by getting in contact with the office by email or phone.

Once a purchase is established and a price established at the time of the order, that price is fixed regardless of any movement in the price of the precious metal in the market place. This is regardless of any possible delay in shipping.

There are conditions relating to the payment and these are primarily related to ensuring that the payment is made to Gold de Royale within a specific time range.

Gold De Royale accepts custom orders for Swiss Gold Bullion only. The minimum amount required to place a custom order is Two Kilos or more. There is no upper limit imposed for custom orders and they state they can provide you with as many kilos of gold as you require. They also state they will supply either one or a combination of these gold bars at their discretion:

PAMP of SwitzerlandArgor-Heraeus of SwitzerlandValcambi of SwitzerlandCredit Suisse of Switzerland

They do note on the website that:

"Owing to the great demand for Swiss Gold Bullion (demand outweighs supply), we cannot guarantee that your order will be comprised of just one of the above-mentioned Gold Bullions. While we try our best, it may not be possible and we may need to supply you with other Swiss Gold Bullion as mentioned above. Please note that we will not supply you with any other Gold Bullion other than the above-mentioned Swiss Gold Bullion for custom orders."

Opening a Gold de Royale AccountOpening an account with Gold de Royale is similar to opening a bank account in Australia. In order to comply with the current regulations and a Know Your Customer Policy, all applicants will need to provide documentary evidence of identification in order to open an account. This only needs to be done once and usually consists of notarised or certified copies of various identity documents such as drivers licence, passport, proof of age cards, address etc. This is fully detailed on site.

For businesses, the following documents would be required.

Copy of business/company registration.Identification documents of the authorised person acting for the business/company.Authority to act as the authorised person for the business/company on the letterhead.

This is a one-off legislative requirement and once done would not be required for any further purchases.

The Gold De Royale's website system is based on the SSL (Secure Socket Layer) encryption standard and, provided you are using an SSL- compliant browser such as Netscape's Navigator or Microsoft's Internet Explorer, you will be able to conduct fully-protected transactions that encrypt all of your personal information, including your credit card number, name and address, so that it cannot be read as the information travels from you to Gold De Royale.

Gold de Royale further assure that all of the customer data they collect is protected against unauthorised access.

How to Buy from Gold de RoyaleHaving opened and established an account with Gold de Royale, one will be able to buy gold or silver or even platinum and palladium from them.

One can order by email or by phone. If ordering by phone bear in mind that the phone does not have a memory and so you should write down the details of the call including the name of the person you spoke to. What you ordered including the weight, number of bars, and gold from which refinery, the agreed price and method of payment and, most importantly, when it should be paid by. Also make a note of the shipping method and the time and date of the call.

A copy of all purchase orders should be kept with these details as well and any bank or payment transactions.

Each of these methods have their own terms and conditions of sale which should be noted and understood before entering a contract to buy gold or any other precious metal.

Importantly, owing to market volatility and other conditions Gold De Royale do not specify the exact amount of Bullion that can be purchased if a client chooses to pay by personal or business bank cheque or electronic funds transfer.

It is also very important to note the follow Gold de Royale state on their website:

"As the precious metals markets are extremely volatile, funds must be received in Gold De Royale’s bank account on the same day the transaction takes place. While most major banks in Australia (National Australia Bank, Commonwealth Bank etc) are able to transfer funds on the same day to our bank account, some state banks and credit unions are not able to do so. Most banks can transfer your funds to our account on the same day if the transaction is conducted over the counter in a bank or via internet banking between 9:00 AM and 2:00 PM (on a Business Day). If in doubt please contact your bank for further information. You can also withdraw cash from your bank account and deposit it directly to our bank account."

"If funds are not received on the same day in our bank account when the transaction takes place, the client agrees to pay any difference in the price, if the price of bullion increases when the funds get cleared. As gold prices are initially fixed by Gold De Royale in United States dollar (US Dollar) before we convert it to Australian dollars (AUD) for ease of transaction purposes, it is essential that we receive your funds on the same day. We will advice the client if a difference exist."

Payment MethodsCredit cards. Credit card payments are limited $5000. Gold de Royale accept the standard cards, Visa, Master Card and American Express. A credit card surcharge is also applied. 1.3 percent for Visa and MasterCard and 3.25 percent for American Express. There is also a surcharge applied for PayPal transactions of 2.7 percent.

All purchases are only processed once the funds are cleared.

The currency charged for all transactions will be in Australian Dollars (AUD).

Gold De Royale reserves the right to refuse any orders at its own discretion without giving a reason. Should a transaction be detected as a fraud at a later date, Gold De Royale reserves the right to commence legal action.

Gold de Royale Exchange and Returns PolicyGold de Royale do not accept returns where a client has changed their mind, is having financial difficulties, found a different item which they now prefer or have found the same product elsewhere but at a lower price. Also for not having read the terms and conditions where it is stated that one cannot return one’s purchase.

Gold de Royale WILL offer a money back guarantee if the product or products bought are not as they are supposed to be. Or if one ordered one item and instead received something else and not the item ordered (this is why it is important to keep good records of orders including and especially phone orders).As well as the standard procedures for returning such goods, being a precious metal sent in a particular way it is important that when returning unwanted goods for the reasons described, one also includes the packing, any synthetic case and seals as well.

If there are any signs of damage to the product it will not be accepted for return.

In view of the fact that great care is taken with each order and provided you have made your order clear enough it is extremely unlikely that there will be any need to return any gold or silver bullion received.

Gold de Royale Shipping PoliciesGold de Royale will ship to a post office (PO) box via registered mail. It should be noted, however, that courier companies do not ship to post office boxes.

Gold De Royale insures its shipments and its insurer is responsible if anything should happen to the shipment while in transit. Gold De Royale do not accept responsibility if the carrier is instructed to leave the package without a signature. Gold De Royale will also not accept responsibility for any package delivered to a non-residential address and which is signed for by a third party, i.e. not the client or purchaser, or if the address provided by the customer is incorrect.

If an order is lost or stolen during transit, they will follow this matter up with the insurance company and the customer will be repaid back the money when received from the insurance company.

Gold de Royale do not keep any gold or other precious metal at their offices so if a customer wants to collect their gold bullion or other precious metal they will need to make an arrangement to pick it up from Gold de Royale’s designated security company. Two days notice is required for this facility and they charge a service fee of $27.50 for this option.Gold de Royale Storage FacilityGold de Royale provide secure storage facilities for Gold Bullion for their clients, as do most Australian gold dealers.

When you appoint Gold de Royale to store your Gold Bullion, your Bullion will be counted twice by two different appointed personnel and both must agree and then sign the inventory list. Your precious metals are then placed into a secured casing and tagged with your name, certificate of storage number and contents and then securely stored in a vault at The Reserve Vault, Brisbane, Queensland. They then mail the customer a Certificate of Storage that lists the items.

The Reserve Vault is a highly secured facility that provides secure storage for valuables with the best security rating in Australia by Lloyd's of London. Although they will store the Bullion on your behalf, they do not currently provide insurance for Bullion storage but can direct you to an organisation that may be able to provide you with a quote for storage insurance if required.Last Word on Gold de RoyaleGold de Royale provide a similar services to other gold bullion dealers in Australia, except it should be noted that Gold de Royale only sell gold/silver bullion bars, they do not buy them back.

But it is well worth considering and comparing the prices. You can have the Gold de Royale send you their prices daily by signing up for their newsletter on the website.

As far as we know Gold de Royale are the only Australian gold dealer offering gold bullion from the four Swiss refineries so you know therefore, if you buy gold from Gold de Royale, that the quality and standardness of the gold is of an international standard accepted everywhere.